Archive for September, 2010

AppShopper 1.0.2 is out. It addresses the crash-on-launch bug that affected users of earlier devices (iPod Touch, iPhone 3G) and iOS 3.x. So if you didn’t have a chance to try out the new features in 1.0.1, give them a shot now. I’ve recapped the 1.0.1 notes here in case you missed them:

The most noticeable features include:

Slide to Reload

Popularized by Tweetie, “Slide to Reload” allows you to easily reload the current view by pulling the list past the first item on the list. Just drag the whole list down and it will reload the view:

Swipe to Delete

A standard feature in many iPhone apps, you can down swipe from left-to-right in your Wishlist and My Apps list to remove an app from that list. Previously, you had to tap on the app, and then unselect the “Want It” or “Own It” buttons.

Other new features and fixes include:

– Remembers your password until you log out
– Passwords with special characters now work
– Links that appear in an app’s description are now tappable
– Tap menu bar to scroll to top of list
– Fixes an issue where the user would get bounced back to page 1 of My Apps or Wish List after navigating down several pages
– Faster linking to the App Store
– Lots of bug fixes and optimizations

Note that Push notifications, in-app purchase to remove ads, and much more is in the works. Push notifications will be the priority to get into the next update.

Note: It may take a few hours for the update to be available in your location. If it doesn’t work or appear, please try again in a couple of hours.

We’ve all had those moments. You’re away from your computer with only an iPhone or iPad in hand and desperately need to access a file that’s only available on the computer that’s temporarily out of reach. What to do? LogMeIn, Inc. has a solution, offering its LogMeIn Ignition universal app that, along with a free companion application for your PC or Mac, will let you access and control your computer from anywhere through your iPhone or iPad. Its price tag may feel a bit high to some at $29.99, but we’ve found the app to be well worth it with a only a few minor issues.

Directly control your Mac or PC, all your programs and all your files – like that important presentation for your boss or that application that only exists on your work computer – with a simple touch.

LogMeIn Ignition for iPhone and iPad lets you remotely access one or more computers anywhere, anytime. So you never have to worry about leaving anything behind.

In the app’s description, LogMeIn provides guidance on how to get started:

Create a free account at LogMeIn.com

Download LogMeIn Free software to your PC/Mac

Purchase LogMeIn Ignition from the App Store

Log in from your Apple device to access your computer

To be honest, we were a little irked at the need to create an account at LogMeIn.com. While a basic LogMeIn account is free and is all you need to use the LogMeIn Ignition app, the company also offers a Pro account that costs $69.95 per year and offers additional features like remote-to-local printing, file sharing, and more (there’s a handy chart comparing the Free and Pro accounts here). Creating an account allows LogMeIn a way to track users and work to up-sell you to a Pro account since you are automatically opted in to receive emails from the company. While we feel this isn’t entirely necessary, it does serve to add an additional layer of security to the app since you must sign in to your LogMeIn account to access your computer. You can choose to opt out of promotional and other emails in your Account settings on the LogMeIn site, so this negative aspect can be addressed easily.

We installed the required companion application on a Mac. LogMeIn provides good instructions to walk you through the process.

Once you’ve set up the application on your computer, you can then access it through your iPad or iPhone. First, you must sign in to your LogMeIn account. You can choose to have the app remember your log-in credentials so you don’t need to enter them each time.

Once you’re logged in, you’ll see a list of all of the computers on which the companion application has been installed and associated with your LogMeIn account.

Tapping on the desired computer brings up a log-in dialogue where you enter your computer’s administrative name and password.

After this, you’ll see a handy navigation tips screen as the app establishes the connection to your computer. It describes that you can pinch to zoom in and out, pan around using one finger, and more.

Once the link has been established, your computer’s desktop will appear on your device’s screen and a small window will appear on your computer indicating that it is currently being remotely controlled by someone. You can opt to turn off this message if you’d like.

On the iPad, a small virtual mouse appears on the screen so you can click on items. The virtual mouse even has a right button that can be clicked to bring up contextual menus. Using the mouse takes a little getting used to – it’s offset from where the cursor actually is so your finger doesn’t obscure your view of it. However, it becomes second nature to use this mouse set-up after a short time using the app.

There are some controls at the bottom of the screen in the app that will show and hide the keyboard, show keyboard combination commands (command + tab and command + ` on a Mac to switch between applications and windows), and more. There is also a settings button here that provides options on color quality, screen resolution, network speed, and more. The last control here ends the connection between your iPhone/iPad and your computer.

As promised in the app’s description, you can completely control your computer through your iPad or iPhone as if you were sitting in front of it. So, you can easily open your email application, find that document you forgot to forward to someone, attach it to an email and send it on its way. Or you can find that photo of your son you forgot to load onto your iPhone to show your Great Aunt Hilda. You get the picture.

The only limitation we saw was that you can’t hear any audio on your iPhone or iPad from music or video played on the computer. When it comes how quickly your computer responds through LogMeIn Ignition, we found that this really depends on the type and quality of your internet connection (and on the quality of your computer’s connection within your home as well). As expected, we found there to be some choppiness and lag when connecting over AT&T’s 3G network where we had two or three bars of signal strength and less lag when we were on a solid Wi-Fi network in a coffee shop.

Given the iPad’s larger screen, it is far easier to navigate your computer on this device compared to the iPhone with its smaller screen. But, it can be invaluable to be able to access your computer through nothing more than an iPhone when you’re away from home.

In terms of reliability, LogMeIn Ignition worked solidly every time we used it from any Wi-Fi hotspot or over AT&T’s cellular network. We even used it while on our home Wi-Fi network to control a computer a few feet away in another room. You must ensure that your computer is on, of course, and that the LogMeIn companion application is running on your Mac or PC or else the app won’t be able to connect. We set the application to automatically start every time our Mac boots up to ensure we wouldn’t forget to start it when leaving the house.

At $29.99, LogMeIn Ignition is definitely not cheap but its universal format makes it a good value for those who own both an iPhone and an iPad and its functionality and reliability are stellar. If you even think that you’ll need to someday access your computer through your iPhone or iPad while you’re away from home, LogMeIn Ignition is a fantastic choice.

Warning: There is an issue in version 1.0.1 that is causing crashes on devices running iOS 3.x and iPhone 3Gs running all iOS versions. iPhone 4s and iPhone 3GSs seem to work fine. Please refrain from updated until 1.0.2 arrives. 1.0.2 has already been submitted.

Our developer team worked hard and quickly to push out the first update for the AppShopper app in under a week. This app is primarily a bug fix and performance tweak update, but we’ve added a couple of nice new features.

The most noticeable features include:

Slide to Reload

Popularized by Tweetie, “Slide to Reload” allows you to easily reload the current view by pulling the list past the first item on the list. Just drag the whole list down and it will reload the view:

Swipe to Delete

A standard feature in many iPhone apps, you can down swipe from left-to-right in your Wishlist and My Apps list to remove an app from that list. Previously, you had to tap on the app, and then unselect the “Want It” or “Own It” buttons.

Other new features and fixes include:

– Remembers your password until you log out
– Passwords with special characters now work
– Links that appear in an app’s description are now tappable
– Tap menu bar to scroll to top of list
– Fixes an issue where the user would get bounced back to page 1 of My Apps or Wish List after navigating down several pages
– Faster linking to the App Store
– Lots of bug fixes and optimizations

Note that Push notifications, in-app purchase to remove ads, and much more is in the works. Push notifications will be the priority to get into the next update.

DataViz, the well-established developer of productivity applications for a variety of mobile platforms, recently updated its Documents to Go Premium universal app to add Bluetooth keyboard support, multi-tasking under iOS 4 and more. The app’s last major update brought iPad support and the app has been a fixture in the Top 200 chart for Business apps for the iPhone and the iPad for several months.

Full Keyboard Support – Users can take full advantage of an external keyboard with highly requested support added for arrow keys. A fully supported external keyboard alongside the optimized Documents To Go® application helps users to re-define the term ‘office mobility’.

Additional Features – Version 4.0 has been modified to optimize the overall speed of Documents To Go tremendously. Additionally, Sheet To Go® adds such features as freeze panes (this one’s for you PH100 and sort to round out an already comprehensive spreadsheet application. Word To Go® also adds extensive paragraph formatting such as left and right indent, strike out, and a variety of bullet styles.

For those who upgraded to the Premium version of Documents To Go from the base version via in-app purchase, the 4.0 update is still awaiting approval from Apple and is expected shortly according to DataViz via Twitter.

As a side note, Dataviz was recently acquired by Research In Motion, the creator of Blackberry smartphones, which naturally leads to speculation on whether or not RIM will continue development of these apps for iOS. Shortly before the acquisition was announced, DataViz had stated that development of its apps for Palm WebOS would be discontinued.

Our official AppShopper app was released in the App Store earlier this week and we’re pleased to offer another utility for AppShopper users. AppShopper.com Importer is now available and will import the complete list of apps you already own from iTunes on your computer to your AppShopper profile. AppShopper Importer is for the Mac only though a Windows version is in the works.

You can download the application here. It will pull only the app names from your iTunes library and nothing else. The application will ask you to log in to your AppShopper account to get started. If you don’t already have an account, you can create one here (accounts are free).

After your app list has been downloaded, the apps you own will appear in the My Apps tab on AppShopper.com and in the My Apps section in our universal app.

Under the My Apps tab here on the site, you can rate your applications, share them with your friends, and receive notifications about updates.

We’ll post here and on our Twitter account when the Windows version of the importer is available.

Following the publishing of a brief statement on App Store Review Guidelines this morning, Apple has released its App Store Review Guidelines. Engadgetposted a link to the full document, a 7-page PDF describing what’s acceptable when it comes to an app’s functionality, its use of push notifications, location data, and much more.

After many instances where developers have experienced inexplicable delays in seeing their apps approved or had their apps abruptly removed after approval, these guidelines will likely be useful for developers to ensure they’re working on products that will be accepted by Apple.

In the document’s introduction, Apple lists a few overall guidelines that are pretty blunt:

We have lots of kids downloading lots of apps, and parental controls don’t work unless the parents set them up (many don’t). So know that we’re keeping an eye out for the kids.

We have over 250,000 apps in the App Store. We don’t need any more Fart apps. If your app doesn’t do something useful or provide some form of lasting entertainment, it may not be accepted.

If your App looks like it was cobbled together in a few days, or you’re trying to get your first practice App into the store to impress your friends, please brace yourself for rejection. We have lots of serious developers who don’t want their quality Apps to be surrounded by amateur hour.

We will reject Apps for any content or behavior that we believe is over the line. What line, you ask? Well, as a Supreme Court Justice once said, “I’ll know it when I see it”. And we think that you will also know it when you cross it.

If your app is rejected, we have a Review Board that you can appeal to. If you run to the press and trash us, it never helps.

In particular, we appreciate the note about fart apps and those that don’t “do something useful” since we’re a little tired of seeing apps that do nothing more than manufacture odd sounds, deliver fake prognostications and trite and useless information on sex and dating, and more ourselves.

Reading through these guidelines reveals that Apple is, as always, clearly concerned about the user experience and security. Explicitly forbidden are apps that do things like pull location or other personal information without the user’s express consent, as are apps that download any code or send unsolicited push notifications.

Just last month, we saw tap tap tap’s Camera+ app removed from the App Store, presumably because the app had an easter egg feature that enabled the iPhone’s volume buttons to be used to trigger the camera’s shutter. Item 10.5 in Apple’s guidelines now clearly states in black and white that this is not acceptable: “Apps that alter the functions of standard switches, such as the Volume Up/Down and Ring/Silent switches, will be rejected.”

Another example of an app that was the victim of Apple’s guidelines is Nick Lee’s Handy Light app that included a hidden feature that allowed users to tether a computer to an iPhone to use its cellular data connection to provide an internet connection. Item 2.4 in Apple’s guidelines states “Apps that include undocumented or hidden features inconsistent with the description of the app will be rejected.” Handy Light was pulled from the App Store a few hours after it was released.

All in all, we hope that these guidelines will be prove to be useful to developers so that we can see more high-quality apps in the App Store and fewer apps that offer cheap thrills and little functionality.

As reported by Mac4Ever (via MacRumors), developer Applidium has created a VLC media player app for the iPad. The app was created with the support of VideoLan, the non-profit organization that creates free and open source media software.

The app has already been submitted to Apple for approval and will be free at release. In its first versions, functionality is expected to be fairly basic though it is expected to evolve over time.

The VLC media player software plays most video formats and media codecs and is available for free for multiple platforms, and the source code is also freely available on the organization’s site.

In addition to releasing updates for MobileMe iDisk and Find My iPhone yesterday, Apple also released an update to its iMovie app bringing it to version 1.1. With an initial release date in June, iMovie is fairly new to the App Store and was originally only compatible with the iPhone 4. Yesterday’s update adds compatibility with the 4th-generation iPod touch that was announced last week as well as some other new features:

Ability to split video clips.

Automatic music looping when video extends beyond music track.

Scrub to preview clips in Video Browser.

In-app Tips page that illustrates how to use key features.

Updated Photos Browser with newest images at top.

Mute badge to indicate video clips with audio disabled.

Additional performance and reliability improvements.

The new iPod touch has a camera on the rear and a front-facing camera like the iPhone 4 and its rear camera is capable of capturing HD video. Unlike the iPhone 4, the iPod touch’s rear camera offers only about 1 megapixel resolution (960 x 720 pixels according to Apple’s specs), compared to the iPhone 4 rear camera’s 5 megapixel resolution.

As promised at last week’s press event, Apple has released iOS 4.1 into the wild. iOS 4.1 brings a few new features to compatible devices, including HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos, the ability to upload HD video over Wi-Fi to YouTube and MobileMe, and TV show rentals from the iTunes store. Also, Apple’s Game Center makes its official debut.

Image courtesy of MacRumors.com

iOS 4.1 is compatible only with the iPhone 4, 3GS, and 3G and the second and third generations of the iPod touch, plus the most recently announced 4th-generation iPod touch, of course. Apple’s new Game Center, which brings a way to network with friends, challenge other players to, online leaderboards, and more to iOS games is actually not compatible with the iPhone 3G according to Apple.

iOS 4.1 is a free update for all iPhone and iPod touch users with compatible devices.

Apple has pushed out some app updates, bringing bug fixes to its iDisk app and adding compatibility with the newest iPod touch to Find My iPhone. The iDisk app, which first debuted in July 2009, was fixed to address the inability to open some files in their corresponding iPad apps, e.g., Pages, and now properly shows rotated images in their correct orientation.

Find My iPhone, which was released just a few months ago in June, now works with the latest generation of the iPod touch that was announced at last week’s press event. Find My iPhone is a feature of Apple’s MobileMe subscription service that costs $99 per year (though it can often be found for less through Amazon and even eBay) and provides push email and over-the-air synchronization of contact and calendar data between multiple devices.The Find My iPhone feature helps users locate lost or stolen iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads by displaying the device’s location on a map and allowing users to display a message on the screen or forcing the device to play a sound.

The Find My iPhone app’s description lists the following changes in version 1.0.1:

Find My iPhone: If you misplace your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac, the Find My iPhone app will let you use any iOS device to find it and protect your data. Simply install this free app, open it,...